DSE proposes merger with BSENew Delhi, July 8Delhi Stock Exchange has proposed to merge with Bombay Stock Exchange in the face of steep fall in volume of business after a
multi-crore stock scam and ban on badla trading.

US-64 crisis not disastrous: KurianNew Delhi, July 8The US-64 crisis is not as disastrous as it is being projected and is likely to affect only a small segment of investors, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) Chairman A.P. Kurian said today.

Downturn at the boursesMATTERS are going from bad to worse at the country’s bourses and most investors feel victimised. In real fact, this is only a reflection of the misplaced and unwarranted sense of our own importance in the larger context of things.

Punwire Mobile: many may lose money
Chandigarh, July 8
Unsecured creditors stand to lose their money with the winding up of Punwire Mobile Communication and Punwire Paging Services Ltd, which was providing services in 63 cities in 12 states, having a subscriber base of about 17,000.

China not dumping goods into India: CIIBeijing, July 8The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has described as a “misconception” the hue and cry in India about alleged Chinese dumping of cheap consumer goods.

Uttaranchal sops for investorsDehradun, July 8The interim government of Uttaranchal has declared its first industrial policy this evening sops which promises for investor in terms of pollution free environment, regular power supply, easy availability of land.

IT firms see potential in GermanyBerlin, July 8Slowly but steadily the Indian information technology industry is gravitating towards Germany.
With the U.S. economy reeling under recession, high-tech Indian companies, are lustily eyeing the German market, considered to have a voracious appetite for e-biz applications.

Malwa Gramin Bank targets 4000 cardsSangrur, July 8Malwa Gramin Bank, having its 41 branches in Sangrur, Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib, has fixed a target to issue 4000 Kisan Credit cards by March to fulfil their ancillary needs and other needs like purchase of reapers, trolley and tractor etc.

AVIATION
NOTES

Uncertainty looms over A-I selloffK. R. WadhwaneyABOUT two decades ago, Air-India and Indian Airlines were to merge to rise as one national carrier. The system evolved was the same as in the United Kingdom where the British Overseas Airways Corporation was merged into British Airways.

R.N. Lakhotia
Q: I am playing my income tax regularly. Unfortunately I have become physically handicapped. Kindly inform under which section I am entitled for rebate and the amount of exemption. Whether my employer can give rebate under this section.

New Delhi, July 8
Delhi Stock Exchange has proposed to merge with Bombay Stock Exchange in the face of steep fall in volume of business after a
multi-crore stock scam and ban on badla trading.

“We have offered to merge our exchange with the Bombay Stock Exchange to overcome the problem of falling volume of business which has become more pronounced with the ban on carry-forward trading and rolling settlement from July 2,” DSE Executive Director P.K. Singhal said.

To facilitate the merger, the DSE, will offer its assets worth over Rs 100 crore to BSE which in turn will provide trading right to brokers registered with the DSE.

As DSE has converted into a limited company, brokers’ shares would also be shifted to BSE, he said.

The proposed merger, would give a wide platform for trading and expand the business in the bourses, he added.

Singhal said he had recently visited Mumbai to work out the modalities for the proposed merger.

Two options are being considered — establishing a subsidiary of DSE to obtain BSE trading terminals or demutualising by separating administration from brokers to facilitate merger of the bourses.

The merger proposal had come from BSE last year, but at that time, DSE could not pursue the matter as it had already entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Calcutta Stock Exchange, said former DSE President B.B. Sahney.

The DSE attracts more than 18 per cent business from country’s premier bourse National Stock Exchange and merger would boost the business of both the bourses.

The volume of business on all the bourses had plummeted drastically after the major Bank of India pay-order scam in March, this year.

It dwindled further this week with the introduction of new trading system. The volume at BSE has come down to less than 40 per cent. At DSE it has touched a record low of Rs 16 crore against Rs 56 crore before the new system.

With the sharp fall in volume, the share price movements also narrowed considerably.
PTI

New Delhi, July 8
Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) lost Rs 515 crore on “forced” exports of 2.725 million tonnes of petrol and diesel during 2000-01 fiscal as “it was denied fair access to the domestic controlled market.”

RPL lost Rs 468 crore on “forced” exports of 1.597 million tonnes of diesel while it lost Rs 47 crore on export of 1.128 million tonnes of petrol in 2000-01, the company said in a recent presentation to Petroleum Minister Ram Naik.

The denial of fair access to the domestic controlled market was forcing it to export petroleum products at lower price, the presentation said adding only 38 per cent of petrol and 84 per cent of diesel produced by RPL was absorbed domestically as against almost 100 per cent by other public sector refiners.

RPL said capacity expansion of national oil refineries by 22 million tonnes, after commissioning of its 27 million tonnes Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat in July 1999, had resulted in oversupply situation and adversely affected product offtake from its refinery.

The presentation claimed that RPL was being treated as a balancing (swing) refinery with products absorbed only when PSUs do not produce or they are shut down.

“On every occasion the penalty for RPL increases, since RPL is forced to export largely when prices are adverse,” the company said demanding equitable domestic absorption of controlled products (petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene) and a level playing field vis-a-vis public sector refineries.

Accusing the government of backtracking on its February 26, 1999, pledge to treat RPL on pact with its public sector rival, RPL said “all PSU refineries/expansions had been given full domestic absorption even if they were commissioned after RPL.”

Without naming them, the Reliance representation criticised failure of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) in offtaking product from its refinery despite government assurance that IOC would offtake 50 per cent of Jamnagar production while the rest would be done by BPCL and HPCL.

“Products with negative tariff protection — kerosene for public distribution system (PDS) and domestic LPG (cooking gas) — are selectively absorbed from RPL while products with compensating tariff protection diesel and petrol — are not fully absorbed. RPL is compelled to export these products at heavy penalties,” the presentation said.

During July-September 2000, RPL exported 4.44 lakh tonnes of diesel at a loss of Rs 29 crore over the domestic price. It lost Rs one crore on export of 3.41 lakh tonnes of petrol during the same period, the presentation said.

In October-December 2000, the company lost Rs 365 crore on export of 9.28 lakh tonnes of diesel and Rs 45 crore on export of 3.72 lakh tonnes of petrol, while in the last quarter of 2000-01 fiscal, RPL lost Rs 75 crore on export of 2.24 lakh tonnes of diesel and Rs 17 crore on export of 2.95 lakh tonnes of petrol.
PTI

New Delhi, July 8
The US-64 crisis is not as disastrous as it is being projected and is likely to affect only a small segment of investors, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) Chairman A.P. Kurian said today.

“It is not that disastrous. This problem is product specific and related only to US-64 which constitutes about 25 per cent of UTI’s total corpus”, Kurian, also a member of SEBI Advisory Committee on Mutual Fund said.

He supported UTI’s move towards moving away from “trend-line” or administered pricing of US-64 units to a market-driven net asset value (NAV) based system, saying “the system has to be corrected. The sooner the better it is”.

US-64, since its inception in 1964, was positioned as a regular income-giving scheme unlike other SEBI registered mutual funds.

But, due to increase in equity content in its portfolio, the trend line pricing became volatile lowering the difference between the repurchase and selling price over the years which ultimately led to redemption pressure and promoted UTI to suspend sale and repurchase of US-64 units for six months

The move towards a NAV led pricing as suggested by the Deepak Parekh Committee requires a time of adjustment. But the timing of the six-month freeze announcement was not appropriate as the market is down right now”, Kurian, a former UTI Executive Trustee, said.

The market continued its downward trend following the stock scam and failed to recover after introduction of rolling settlement in over 400 active scrips from July 2, 2001. “The ice had to be broken”, Kurian said supporting the UTI move which went much against the interests of millions of investors.

He, however, said the decision was likely to affect only a small segment of ‘US-64’ investors who might need money within this period for meeting contingencies. “I don’t think there is panic among most of the US-64 investors”, Kurian said.

There are a number of “exit routes” for investors in dire need for liquidity, he said pointing to the schemes offered by some banks like State Bank of India, to pledge US-64 units for getting loans.

“The trading in US-64 units in the NSE, both equity and debt markets, will be active during this period”, he added.

But Kurian admitted that investors would have to pay interest for loans against units or brokerages for sale of units in the NSE.

“This is a pain we have to go through for long-term interests of the 20 million investors”, he added.

An optimistic AMFI Chief said the market is expected to firm up within the next 7-9 months and UTI would be better placed to give investors higher returns.
PTI

MATTERS are going from bad to worse at the country’s bourses and most investors feel victimised. In real fact, this is only a reflection of the misplaced and unwarranted sense of our own importance in the larger context of things. The truth is that the market does not even know that we exist. If at all we are victims of our own bad investing and trading strategies.

Investing, according to dictionary, “is a carefully considered, long-term undertaking with the expectation of some future benefit”. The keyword here is long term. But how many of us actually invest in the stock market for the long term. Most of us put part of our money in Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Saving Certificates (NSC) for the long term, part of our funds in banks in fixed deposit (FD) for the medium term and the balance is ploughed back to the stock market for “doubling” it in a years time. So no one to be blamed, except we, ourselves for our current predicament.

The stock market last week had all elements of a Bollywood classic. Some scenes to smile and other for tears. The sensex in real fact has behaved not much differently last week than it has done in the past few months. It has slid. It lost 151 points during the week and closed last Friday at 3306. It was the debacle of Unit Trust Of India’s (UTI) most “trusted” scheme Unit Scheme 64, which has taken a toll of the stock market.

In a bizarre fashion, the UTI declared that it is stopping the sale and repurchase of US 64 units for six months. It was a body blow to the comatose investors and market. The crisis also claimed its first victim, UTI Chairman, P.S. Subramanyam.

Technically speaking the markets still look weak in the medium term and they are vulnerable to test the earlier bottom of 3096 made on April 16, 2001.

As regards individuals stocks, the performance of Punjab Tractors (PTL) in the light of the overall trend in the tracer industry is not surprising. The company has reported a 15.56 per cent fall in the net profit along with a 5.15 per cent decline in its topline. Punjab Tractors’ sales volume declined by 9.8 per cent compared to a 7.4 per cent fall in volume in the industry.

The market share of the company fell to 11.6 per cent in March, 2001, compared to April, 2000-February 2001 when the marketshare stood at 18.9 per cent. The bottomline also took a hit on account of the write off due to depreciation on investments amounting to Rs 3.11 crore.

No doubt the company boasts of a management, which is par excellence. Punjab Tractors also has a very strong balance-sheet and excellent brand equity. But the trends in the tractor industry point to a continued slowdown in the industry. The key to the revival of the industry would depend on the progress of the Monsoon. The beneficial effect of the good monsoon would be felt in the latter part of the year.

Thus the existing shareholders can liquidate their holding in the company in range of Rs 185-190 and re-enter it at the lower levels.

Chandigarh, July 8
Unsecured creditors stand to lose their money with the winding up of Punwire Mobile Communication and Punwire Paging Services Ltd, which was providing services in 63 cities in 12 states, having a subscriber base of about 17,000. The winding up was ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 6, due to the company’s inability to pay some unsecured creditors.

The companies have so much loan of secured creditors that the unsecured creditors will not get anything after the winding up of the company, say insiders.

The winding up process may take up to four years at the end of which even secured creditors may not get anything.

Each customer has invested Rs 3,000 to 5,000 for pagers. These pagers will be useless to customers as there is no other paging operating company in the area. Some of the customers had paid rentals in advance. They may also lose this money.

DoT also stands to lose about Rs 70 lakh a year with the closure of the companies.

Moreover, the companies’ employees, numbering about 500 are expected to become jobless.

Is there any way out of the mess ? According to sources, if business of the company is continued even after the winding up order and the company is sold as an ongoing concern, the loss can be minimised.

This can happen only if the official liquidator approached the high court for permission to carry on company
business.

Beijing, July 8
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has described as a “misconception” the hue and cry in India about alleged Chinese dumping of cheap consumer goods.

“I think there is a misconception in India about a large scale Chinese dumping of goods into India,” immediate past president of CII Arun Bharat Ram said while blaming smuggling activities for the availability of cheap and shoddy Chinese goods in India.

Ram, a leading member of the Indian Parliamentary, Industry and trade union delegation that visited China led by Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha Najma Heptulla, said here that after India lifted the quantitative restrictions (QR) on imports in April, the country has not seen a surge of Chinese exports to India.

On the other hand, Indian exports to China has witnessed a boom in the recent months, Ram, Vice Chairman and Senior Managing Director of SRF, said during the delegation’s week-long visit to China which concluded yesterday.
PTI

Dehradun, July 8
The interim government of Uttaranchal has declared its first industrial policy this evening sops which promises for investor in terms of pollution free environment, regular power supply, easy availability of land.

The policy,, however, is silent on the crucial aspect — the product lines that can fetch the best return on investment (ROI).

And further more, the policy is not solid enough to convince the investors of better infrastructure, simplification of taxes, availability of finances, better communication systems etc.

Of course, there has been the usual reiteration of IT related software industry and tourism potential of the state. But this really gives no concrete clue to the potential investor.

As far as the tourism industry is concerned a majority of hotels in Uttaranchal are in the unapproved sector. Tour operators and tourism-related transport sector is the weakest link. Proximity to Delhi is the most critical factor.

The first industrial policy though aims at promotion of the IT industry in the state in a big way. This is being done as part of the government’s current search for new sources of generating revenue and creating more jobs in Uttaranchal.

But the fact is that the state is a victim of the Central Government in regard to the communication sector. it still awaits Internet revolution.

A big giant in software industry, which at the initial stage showed interest in developing a software technology park in Dehradun, is in a messy situation to make investment. The main problems before it were no assurance of regular power supply and modern link facilities in telecommunications.

No doubt, the state has the potential of tapping maximum hydropower generation in the country but it has not been able to attract the private investors in this sector.

Private investors may not find any satisfying promises in the new industrial policy in the prevailing ground realities.

The new state does not even have its own grid for power supply. Even after eight months of formation of the new state, it is at the mercy of parent state Uttar Pradesh.

Berlin, July 8
Slowly but steadily the Indian information technology industry is gravitating towards Germany.

With the U.S. economy reeling under recession, high-tech Indian companies, are lustily eyeing the German market, considered to have a voracious appetite for e-biz applications.

Germany is a large software market with tremendous potential yet to be tapped by Indian suppliers, says a top official of an Indian software development and solutions company.

"While there is an overall economic slowdown, the software market in Germany still offers tremendous potential to be tapped," Ashank Desai, Chairman of Mastek Ltd., told IANS.

Desai is visiting the south German town of Villingen-Schwenningen, where the company's subsidiary Mastek GmbH is located.

Mastek GmbH has posted an "impressive growth" of 110 per cent last year over 1999. Desai, who routinely visits Germany, said he had been "very happy" with the result of the German subsidiary.

Karl-Heinz Jauch, Managing Director of Mastek GmbH's, said the company's future appears "promising", despite the fact that the overall global economy situation was characterized by a slowdown. Maestek GmbH posted a turnover of DM 9 million in 2000.

"A growth of 110 per cent is impressive, after all," Jauch said.

Desai, one of the co-founders of Nasscom and Vice-President of the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (AOCIO), echoed Jauch's views.

"Germany is indeed showing signs of a slowdown right now. We have been seeing the early signs of a general economic sluggishness," he said.

The German subsidiary relies heavily on the Indian parent company for its programming needs. According to Desai, 85 per cent of the staff at the German subsidiary is from India.

"It is difficult to find qualified German programmers," explained Jauch. He praised the authorities of his town for expeditiously issuing labour permits to the Indian employees.

Jauch said he was "extremely happy" with his Indian staff who did not pose any adaptation problems. The German subsidiary has even hired a social worker to look after the needs of the Indian employees.

Desai also talked about the fierce competition that Indian software suppliers are facing from their East European counterparts, particularly the Russians.

St. Petersburg in Russia, often referred to as "Russia's Bangalore", is becoming popular with German and Swiss companies who are increasingly sourcing their software requirements from there.

"It is true that Russia is becoming a major competitor against India in the software sector. Russia's prices — and those of other East European suppliers — may be low as of now. But India has a much larger software base," he said.

"India is competing not in terms of costs but in terms of quality. We are moving up the value chain."

Desai said Mastek, which achieved a global turnover of $60 million in 2000 and employs some 1,200 software professions, had positioned itself in the top bracket worldwide.
IANS

Sangrur, July 8
Malwa Gramin Bank, having its 41 branches in Sangrur, Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib, has fixed a target to issue 4000 Kisan Credit cards by March to fulfil their ancillary needs and other needs like purchase of reapers, trolley and tractor etc.

Addressing a press conference here today, Mr D.S. Kharbanda, Chairman of the bank, said an amount of Rs 20 crore would be sanctioned for these cards.

The bank had already sanctioned Rs 13.67 crore till March this year through 3,856 cards.

The bank had earned a profit of Rs 508.89 lakh during the financial year 2000-2001.

ABOUT two decades ago, Air-India and Indian Airlines were to merge to rise as one national carrier. The system evolved was the same as in the United Kingdom where the British Overseas Airways Corporation was merged into British Airways.

All paper work for the merger had been done meticulously. Pros and cons were examined. Politicians and bureaucrats were on the same wave-length. Files had become as bulky as the Civil Aviation Minister was assertive. All seemed set when the near-reality merger was reduced to no more than myth. The files in government corridors have become thicker with layers of dust sitting on them.

The same situation appears to be springing up on the much talked-about disinvestment plan. Unlike for the merger in which all officials concerned were unanimous, it cannot be said about the disinvestment process in which politicians and bureaucrats are sharply divided. There is differences of opinion even among those who matter in the government.

Unions are opposed to disinvestment because they are unsure of their strength and dominance in the private sector. Egged by union leaders, the opposition — the Congress, left and right factions and others — have started protesting against disinvestment. Why did they not protest earlier when the disinvestment process was at the formative stage?

Amidst this situation, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie has announced Air India shareholders pact and stock option plan for workers. While announcing many dos and don’ts, he said he and the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) were on the same wave-length. Aviation analysts, who are monitoring the process and progress of disinvestment, maintain that the picture is not all that rosy.

There are several clauses which may not be acceptable to even single-bidder, the Tata-Singapore consortium. Strategic partner will like to have ‘complete say’ in matter pertaining to staff instead of continuing with the ‘dead-wood’ in Air India for at least one year.

Much as the Disinvestment Minister may like to push through the proposal, the aviation experts feel otherwise. The experts emphasise that if there is deferment, the disinvestment plan will go the same way as the near-reality merger.

In the already existing scenario, Air India has sent a long term (10-year) plan to the Department of Disinvestment (DOD) on fleet and route expansions.

According to AI, it plans to buy as many as 34 new short capacity long range (SCLR) and short capacity short range (SCSR). The new aircraft will be bought from Boeing and Airbus Industrie. Every year, 4-5 aircraft will be added.

J.N. Gogoi will continue to function as acting managing director of AI. His name has been okayed by the Cabinet Committee on Appointment. The new MD will, however, be appointed by the Public Enterprise Selection Committee.

TAX & YOU

R.N. Lakhotia

Q: I am playing my income tax regularly. Unfortunately I have become physically handicapped. Kindly inform under which section I am entitled for rebate and the amount of exemption. Whether my employer can give rebate under this section.

— Ramesh Kapoor, Amritsar

Ans: In case you are suffering from specific diseases as are mentioned in Rule 11DD for the purposes of deduction u/s 80DDB then you would be eligible for tax deducation to the tune of Rs 40,000 p.a.

However, please ensure that your disease is contained in the said rule. In the alternative, if you are suffering from permanent physical disability then you will be eligible for deducation u/s 80U to the extent of Rs 40.000.

Here again please verify whether your permanent physical disability is as per the disabilities mentioned in Rule 11D. The deduction u/s 80U is also Rs 40,000 p.a. and your employer can grant this benefit. Certain procedural formalities have to be complied with for availing this tax dedication.

Q: I have availed leave encashment (alongwith LTC) for the block 10/2000 to 10/2004. Total
amount encashed Rs 20,000. Please clarify whether the encashment, whole amount, will be taken in a/c for income tax calculation in one year or will be bifurcated in four financial years.

— B.S. Brar, Phul (Dist Bathinda)

Ans: The entire amount availed by you towards leave encashment will be fully taxable in the year in which it has been received by you. In case the leave encashment amount can be quantified by reference to specific financial year, then the same would be taxable in the respective financial year. Tax relief u/s 89) 1) can be granted by the employer.

Q: I am going to complete 65 years on 29.9.2001. Kindly let me know if I will be allowed the benefit of Income Tax rebate during the year 2001 and AY 2001-2002 and how much i.e. 10,000 or 15,000.

Secondly is the rebate of Rs 5000 in case of women is given. Kindly let me know the circular or amendment No. of Income Tax Act.

— B.S. Jaswal, Paunta Sahib

Ans: The tax rebate for a senior citizen u/s 88B is Rs 15,000 and not Rs 10,000. The tax rebate in respect of a woman tax payer below the age of 65 years is Rs 5,000 as per the section 88C of the Income-Tax Act, 1961.

Q: I own a
house at Jalandhar which I want to dispose off. It is likely to fetch a sum of Rs 25 lakh. With this amount, I want to purchase a built up house or build at my own after purchasing a plot at Nakunshahr.

If the sale and purchase price is almost same and the new building is purchased within 2 years of the sale of the house at Jalandhar, I presume that there will be no tax liability. Kindly elucidate. Would I also be required to inform tax authorities about the two deals.

— Harnam Singh Minhas, Jalandhar

Ans: By taking advantage of Section 54 of the Income-Tax Act, it is possible to save completely the long-term capital gains on a selling your house at Jalandhar. Please comply with the procedural formalities of depositing the amount in Capital Gains Account Scheme, etc.

While you file your income-tax return, you must mention the full details about the computation of the capital gain on selling your Jalandhar house and simultaneously in the income tax return in the computation statement you should claim exemption in respect of capital gains consequent to the investment in another residential house property by you.

Inflation fallsNew Delhi, July 8
Inflation rate fell further by 0.20 percentage points to 5.03 per cent during the week ended June 23, due to cheaper primary food articles. The point-to-point inflation rate based an wholesale price index for all commodities (base 1993-94=100) which dipped for third consecutive week was 5.23 per cent in the previous week and 6.62 per cent a year ago. WPI declined by 0.1 per cent to 160.7 (provisional) from 160.9 in the previous week. The final WPI stood at 160 points during the week ended April 28, as against the provisional figure of 159.9 points during the same time.
PTI

Orpat productsFaridabad, July 8
Ellora Time Limited (Orpat) at a function organised by the company’s distributor here has launched water purifier, filter, dispenser, hair drier, electric iron, room heater, water heater, toasters, blenders and emergency lamp. The company which launched its products on June 29 at Delhi started marketing for Haryana region today.
TNS

Khadi MissionPanipat, July 8
Convener of the Khadi Mission Balvijay, in a press statement issued here today after a meeting, pointed out that financial assistance being assure to the KVI senior in the five-year period was not sufficient as was recommended by the High Power Committee chaired by the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. The package has only assured working capital to the tune of Rs 550 crore only which is not adequate enough to maintain the present level of employment. He has appealed the government to continue budgetory support and implement the remaining high power committee recommendations.
OC